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    • SOME SURPRISES AT MEALY’S MID-SUMMER SALE

    July 16th, 2015

    Nearly every auction springs some surprises and Mealy’s mid summer sale of 600 lots in Castlecomer this week was no exception. The top lot was the magnificent Donegal Carpet commissioned half a century ago for New Ireland Assurance in Dublin which sold for 18,000 at hammer.  No surprises here.  More surprising was the 5,250 hammer price for a bronze figure of Michael Collins in uniform by J. Flynn. Just under 28″ tall it had been estimated at 1,500-2,500.  Lot 277, an unusual Famille Rose wall pocket in the shape of a vase – estimated at 200-300 – sold for 4,600 on the hammer and lot 601, a Doulton stoneware oil lamp with an estimate of 250-350 made 1,955 on the hammer. The auction was 71% sold and brought in 205,000 on the hammer. One major lot which failed to fine a buyer, a 19th century Irish granite fountain, is likely to be sold privately.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for July 11 and July 8, 2015).

    This bronze of Michael Collins by J. Flynn sold for 5,250 over an estimate of 1,500-2,500.

    This bronze of Michael Collins by J. Flynn sold for 5,250 over an estimate of 1,500-2,500.

    An unusual Doulton stoneware oil lamp made 1,955 at hammer.

    An unusual Doulton stoneware oil lamp made 1,955 at hammer.

    This Famille Rose wall pocket sold for 4,600.

    This Famille Rose wall pocket sold for 4,600.

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    STUDY FOR “FLAMING JUNE” SELLS FOR £167,000

    July 15th, 2015

    The only known head study for one of the most famous masterpieces of the nineteenth century, Frederic, Lord Leighton’s Flaming June sold to an American private collector for £167,000 at Sotheby’s in London today.  The pencil and white chalk study sold for four times it pre sale low estimate (£40,000-60,000) to make an auction record for a work on paper by the artist.

    Various museums possess studies for the draperies in Flaming June, for the nude figure and for the overall composition, but this unique head study was only known from an illustration in the Magazine of Art of 1895. It was rediscovered hanging on a bedroom wall at West Horsley Place, the 400-acre Surrey estate that was home to the late Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, by Sotheby’s Victorian Art specialist Simon Toll. The head study represents one of the most important surviving drawings relating to this famous painting and provides the missing link in the preparatory work for what has become known as ‘The Mona Lisa of the Southern Hemisphere’.

    The sale also featured Leighton’s oil painting Catarina, another re-discovery, which sold to an UK private collector for £233,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £100,000-150,000.

    Frederic, Lord Leighton - Study for Flaming June - sold for £167,000.

    Frederic, Lord Leighton – Study for Flaming June – sold for £167,000.

    Frederic, Lord Leighton - Catarina -sold for £233,000.

    Frederic, Lord Leighton – Catarina -sold for £233,000.

     

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    DIVANI SOFA AT DE VERES ONLINE AUCTION

    July 15th, 2015

    AN Italian leather corner sofa by Max Divani is among the highlights at the online sale of paintings and contemporary design furniture now on at de Veres, Dublin.  The 190 lot sale runs until July 21 at 6 p.m.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    An Italian leather L shaped sofa by Max Divani (1,000-1,500)

    An Italian leather L shaped sofa by Max Divani (1,000-1,500) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,050

    A set of six dining chairs by Sacha Lakic for Roch Bobois (800-1,200)

    A set of six dining chairs by Sacha Lakic for Roch Bobois (800-1,200)  UPDATE: THESE MADE 2,350

    Rosaleen Davey - Still Life (1,000-2,000).

    Rosaleen Davey – Still Life (1,000-2,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,240 EURO

    20th century British modern school Milk Jugs (800-1.200)

    20th century British modern school Milk Jugs (800-1.200) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,020

     

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    IRISH SILVER LEMON STRAINER THE SLEEPER LOT AT SOMERSET SALE

    July 14th, 2015
    The Limerick silver lemon strainer by Joseph Johns.

    The Limerick silver lemon strainer by Joseph Johns.

    A rare Irish silver lemon strainer by the Limerick maker Joseph Johns made £14,000 over an estimate of £600-800 at Lawrences Auctioneers, Crewkerne, Somerset today.  It was the sleeper lot in an auction of fine art, silver and vertu.

    What makes it so special is that there are only two other such strainers by this maker known.

    It was described by the auctioneers as a rare George II/III Irish Provincial lemon strainer with twin shaped handles.  Each of the handles is pierced with a heart shaped motif and a chased border of flowers and scrolls.  The maker’s mark, struck twice, is that of Joseph Johns of Limerick.  The strainer is eleven inches long and weighs 5.25 ozs.

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    ALICE IN WONDERLAND BUTTONS AT SOTHEBY’S

    July 13th, 2015
    ALICE LIDDELL'S SILVER BUTTONS

    ALICE LIDDELL’S SILVER BUTTONS  UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR £2,500

    Two silver buttons belonging to Alice Pleasance Liddell (1852-1934) who inspired Lewis Carroll to write “Alice in Wonderland” come up at Sotheby’s sale of English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations in London on July 14. Estimated at £2,000-3,000, the pair of cherub-shaped art nouveau buttons were “worn from childhood to the date of her death”, according to the inscription on the presentation box accompanying them.

    In 1862, an Oxford don, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll’s real name), took the three daughters of the Dean of Christ Church college Oxford, including his young friend Alice, on a picnic. When the girls cried out for Carroll to tell them a story, he complied by beginning a tale about Alice’s adventures down a rabbit hole. And thus, two of the great children’s classics of all time were born: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.

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    A SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED DONEGAL CARPET AT MEALY’S

    July 11th, 2015
    A  large royal blue ground Donegal carpet inscribed with a harp, a gold link border and Celtic motifs comes up at Mealy’s one day sale in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on July 15.  The New Ireland carpet, measuring 13.7 metros by 5 metres, was a complex commission by New Ireland Assurance for their Dublin office in 1964.  The medallion detail is 64 knots per square inch as against 16 in the main body. The junction is imperceptible and the carpet is estimated at 15,000-25,000.  In its heyday the Donegal Factory, at Killybegs, supplied carpets to the Oval Office and Buckingham Palace.
    A late 19th century cut granite Irish fountain is estimated at 20,000-30,000.  The sale features a monumental William IV side table estimated at 15,000-20,000 and a full sized billiard table among more than 600 lots.  The catalogue is online.
    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for July 8, 2015).
    The New Ireland Donegal carpet.

    The New Ireland Donegal carpet. UPDATE: THIS MADE A HAMMER PRICE OF 18,000

    A large 19th century Irish cut granite fountain.

    A large 19th century Irish cut granite fountain.  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    ANOTHER SPITFIRE FLIES INTO THE RECORD BOOKS

    July 10th, 2015

    Another Spitfire flew into the record books in London on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.  It sold for a world record price of  £3,106,500  to contribute to an extraordinary week at Christie’s. The Exceptional Sale and sales of  Old Master and British Paintings, the collection of a Swiss Gentleman, Taste of the Royal Court with French furniture and works of art from a private collection and Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours  have achieved £48,451,788 so far. A total of 14 works sold for over £1 million.

    Among the highlights are the unique last of its kind Mark 1 Spitfire; a 19th century Luba female figure for a bowstand, which made £6,130,500, the second highest price at auction for an African work of art and the world record price at auction for a Luba figure; the most important oil by Richard Parkes Bonington to come to the market in a generation which made £2,490,500, a world record price for the artist at auction; and the only surviving armchair from the most expensive suite made for the French queen Marie Antoinette which made £1,762,500, a new world record price at auction for an 18th century chair. The Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale takes place today.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 28, 2015)

    This fauteuil en bergere supplied to Marie Antoinette for the Pavilion Belvedere sold for £1,762,500.

    This fauteuil en bergere supplied to Marie Antoinette for the Pavilion Belvedere sold for £1,762,500.

    The Spitfire in Flight - copyright 2011 John Dibbs.

    The Spitfire in Flight – copyright 2011 John Dibbs.

     

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    A NOBEL PRIZE MEDAL AWARDED IN 1953 AT SOTHEBY’S

    July 10th, 2015
    The Nobel Prize awarded to Sir Hans Krebs in 1953.

    The Nobel Prize awarded to Sir Hans Krebs in 1953.

    The Nobel Prize medal awarded to Hans Krebs (1900-1981) – the scientist who explained the conversion of food into energy within the cell – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on July 14. A Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany for the UK in the early 1930’s Hans Krebs became on the most pre-eminent scientists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1953.  The medal is being sold to benefit the Hans Krebs Trust,  established to provide grants to support refugee scientists and the training of young scientists in the biomedical sciences.  The medal is estimated at £250,000-350,000.

    UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £275,000

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    A RECORD FOR LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER AT SOTHEBY’S

    July 9th, 2015

    Lucas Cranach the Elder’s La Bocca Della Verita (The Mouth of Truth) sold for £9.3 million at Sotheby’s in London last night.  This is a record for the master at auction, and almost  double his previous auction record.  Four paintings from the collections of Castle Howard together realized £9.1 million and earlier in the day five further works brought in £3.6 million at the Treasures sale.  The evening sale of Old Master and British Paintings realized £39.3 million.  There were six new artists records in a sale which saw participation from 30 countries. Ferdinand Bol’s Portrait of a Boy made £5.2 million and there were also records for Tiepolo whose unfinished portrait of the artist’s family made £2.8 million, a record for a single work by the artist; one of the earliest still lives by female Italian artist Feda Galizia made £1.6 million; Joseph Heintz the Elder (£485,000) and John Martin (£2.7 million).  The Treasures sale totaled £12 million.

    Alex Bell of Sotheby’s said afterwards: “As the market for Old Master & British paintings continues to evolve we’re seeing an ever more discerning and international collector base vying for a greater diversity of works. Whether it’s a work that transcend genres, such as Cranach’s masterpiece, or a ground-breaking still life created by a female artist over four centuries ago, we saw both new and established buyers from Europe, Russia and Asia competing tonight. Paintings spanning five centuries continue to surprise and excite”.

    The sale of La Bocca Della Verita

    The sale of La Bocca Della Verita last night.

    Portrait of Henry VIII, from the Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, from the Collections of Castle Howard

    Portrait of Henry VIII, from the Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, from the Collections of Castle Howard

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    CLARET FROM AN EAGLE ANYONE?

    July 8th, 2015

    A claret jug in the form of an eagle is the opening lot at Mealy’s mid summer sale in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on July 15.  It is estimated at 700-1,100 in a sale of more than 600 lots of fine and decorative art. Lot 34 is The Georgian Society records volumes 1, 2 and 3 printed in Dublin in 1911 and estimated at 1,000-1,500. A full size Victorian snooker table has an estimate of 1,500-2,500 and Ken O’Neill’s Elegance on a Beach has an estimate of 500 to 800.  The catalogue is on line. Here is a taster menu.

    BERNARD DE HOOG (1867-1943), Cottage Interior (10,000-15,000).

    BERNARD DE HOOG (1867-1943), Cottage Interior (10,000-15,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,200 AT HAMMER

    A William IV Games Table (5,000-7,000).

    A William IV Games Table (5,000-7,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,500 AT HAMMER

    A decanter in the shape of an eagle.

    A decanter in the shape of an eagle.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 795 AT HAMMER

    The Georgian Society's Volumes 1, II and III

    The Georgian Society’s Volumes 1, II and III  UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 800 AT HAMMER

    A full size Victorian snooker table.

    A full size Victorian snooker table.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800

    Ken O'Neill - Elegance on a Beach (500-800).

    Ken O’Neill – Elegance on a Beach (500-800).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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